


Full of Fire

by WithywindlesDaughter



Category: Being Human (UK), The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Colin wants something he cannot have, Disting, Festival of Walpurgis, Festival of the Idises, Life with the Johnsons, M/M, Norse god holidays, There are more things in heaven and Earth, Thrimilci, Walpurgisnacht - Freeform, but when did that stop him?, lyrical fiction, the wild hunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 11:47:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7507126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WithywindlesDaughter/pseuds/WithywindlesDaughter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I wrote this as my contribution to the GatheringFiKi Photosets Challenge - Photoset 20, and it is dedicated to the Gatheringfiki Collective. Long may you reign! </p><p>To see more go here: http://gatheringfiki.tumblr.com/tagged/Gatheringphotosets</p><p> </p><p>It had been two years since an Irish vampire with long legs had walked into an Auckland bar and stumbled into the arms of a wayward Norse god with eyes like the summer sea and mouth like a sailor.</p><p>It had been two years since a drunken PR hack had looked up from his glass of remorse with a shot of self-recrimination and been captured by a lilting accent and the kind of free laughter that could charm the stars from the heavens and found himself utterly lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Full of Fire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GatheringFiKi](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=GatheringFiKi).



> The Festival of the Idises (Feb 2), when the effects of Winter are beginning to lessen and the world prepares itself for Spring. Corresponds to the pagan holiday of Imbolc. Disting is characterized by preparing the land for planting. In ancient times, Disting was the time when the cattle were counted and one's wealth was tallied; thus making it a festival of finance as well. It was said that new calves born during Disting were a sign of great prosperity for the coming year.
> 
> The Festival of Walpurgis, a night both of revelry and darkness. The nine nights of April 22 (interestingly enough, the modern festival of Earth Day) to April 30 are venerated as rememberance of the AllFather's self-sacrifice upon the World Tree Yggdrasil. It was on the ninth night (April 30, Walpurgisnacht) that he beheld the Runes, grasped them, and ritually died for an instant. At that moment, all the Light in the 9 worlds is extinguished, and utter Chaos reigns. At the final stroke of midnight, the Light returns in dazzling brilliance, and the bale-fires are lit. On Walpurgisnacht, the dead have full sway upon the earth; it is the ending night of the Wild Hunt. May 1 is the festival of Thrimilci; the beginning of Summer. Thrimilci is a festival of joy and fertility, much like Ostara; however, most of the Northern World is finally escaping from the snow at this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**_“FULL OF FIRE”_ **

**by WithywindlesDaughter**

**for the**

**GatheringFiKi Photoset Challenge**

**Photoset 20**

 

 **Dedicated to:** **_GatheringFiKi, Linane, Damnitfili, and Dragonsquillwrites_ **

 

 

 

 

 

 

**_Music: https://youtu.be/JHVqWmBmCX4_**

 

It had been two years since an Irish vampire with long legs had walked into an Auckland bar and stumbled into the arms of a wayward Norse god with eyes like the summer sea and mouth like a sailor. A night of hard drinking led to a night of hard sex led to morning of revelations and he stayed for a day, then another, never quite managing to go home again.  

It had been two years since a drunken PR hack had looked up from his glass of remorse with a shot of self-recrimination and been captured by a lilting accent and the kind of free laughter that could charm the stars from the heavens and found himself utterly lost. He tumbled into eyes like dark amber and then tumbled into bed and received absolution for fifteen years of running and for the first time knew the blessings of peace and silence in the arms of another.

  

 

> _If youʼre lonely, the dayʼs too long and solitary  
>  Youʼre out on a limb, you ainʼt got nobody. Say my name _  

 

 

Olaf had been the first to come round to it. Baldr genuinely liked everyone and at 117 and 92 vampire and oracle discovered a shared history. That John was a vampire was less bothersome to Ty than the fact that he was his brother’s lover. But Dawn was smitten and the firm was busy and Anders Johnson walked in the door every morning a happy man, which was enough in her eyes and that was enough in his. Axl wasn’t comfortable with it even if Zeb was and there was no small amount of push and shove until John finally shifted in front of him when the others weren’t looking to rock him back on his heels. He still didn’t approve but at least he had the good sense to keep quiet about it. Ingrid had no reservations where love was concerned and Stacy didn’t care one way or another. Michele found it sexy and had no shortage of appreciation for the irony that the worst womanizer in New Zealand was in thrall to another man. She wasted no time in making Mike even angrier about it by flirting with John whenever Anders brought him into the bar. Things came to a head when Mike lost his temper and took a swing at Anders only to find his fist blocked by an equally furious Mitchell and Olaf and Ty had to step in to help break it up.

 

 

 

> _If youʼre hurting, I know hearts can heal  
>  Iʼm living proof, I know how you feel. Donʼt look back _

 

 

Anders knew his family was having difficulty with his new relationship and as much as that tore at him he refused to give up the one person who loved him without reservation. Now the secret he had protected for all these years was out he would never deny it again. This man in his bed, the easy companionship and ever-present devotion, the blessed periods of silence when even Bragi was quiet. It was peace and contentment Anders Johnson had never known and he’d be damned if he’d let them chase him off.  

John Mitchell yielded himself up to the chaos that was the Johnson clan. Like a flock of magpies they descended and flew off at irregular intervals - nagging, scolding, worrying. They settled family arguments over putter-golf and cricket (which he was very good at) and when they weren’t fighting they were a regular barrel of craic. Also like magpies their fights could turn bloody and finally he lost his temper and flipped a pool table with one hand, argument over. But for all their squabbling they presented a closed front in times of danger and their contentious presence hammered away at the painful state of isolation that had haunted him for so long.

Both of them had their own particular brand of darkness to fight. The first time Anders got nasty drunk and the snark turned hurtful turned tearful and a distressed vampire held a blacked-out vessel in his arms was when John realized how close to the edge he was. That was the night Mikkel woke with a start to find black eyes watching him in the darkness. _“Never again.”_ The nights John went quiet with that thousand-mile stare looking past the dead faces looking back at him, looking eleven-thousand, four-hundred and thirty-eight miles to the moment he traded redemption for revenge, Anders would steer the penitent soul in his care into their bed to force his wrist into his mouth. And when John would finally look at him he would carefully strip off their clothes and slowly make love to him in the long silence of the night while John wept.

_“I am so lost without you.”_

_“I will always find you.”_

Be they Gods or Monsters they were nothing without each other.

  

 

> _Careless love is a dangerous game  
>  You canʼt escape unscathed you can only redeem what youʼve got _

 

 

Things went tits-up in February when Colin Gunderson walked into the bar with a Disting hard-on and a notion to rub Mike’s nose in his current state of things and came face-to-face with with a century-old vampire and in the way of all supernatural beings they knew each other and were wary.

Olaf and Ingrid had put together a party for the Festival of Idises celebrating the ending of Winter and the anticipation of Spring. It was also the celebration of prosperity, when one takes stock and that was just what had driven the vessel of Loki to lord his over the Johnson clan. Mitchell was working the bar, serving Benedictine and bitters when Colin picked up a glass and saw something beautiful that all his wealth could not buy. John looked up from his work and saw open and calculated want that was Herrick all over again. To give him credit, Colin Gunderson did not need Loki to make him covetous and petty. To give him credit, John Mitchell did not leap across the bar and kill him.

For three months Colin burned with thoughts of eyes like bottomless wells and the fact that he was living in the flat of one Anders Johnson got up under his skin like a festering itch. The worried look on Anders’ face when they met said as much as the smug one he wore when Colin left. And the longer he thought on it the more he knew want the more bitter he became until all his lovely things were as the last dregs in the bottom of his glass and he came to a decision.

At the end of April comes the Walpurgisnacht, when the Wild Hunt comes home to rest and the dead hold sway over the mortal realm. John had felt it coming and been restless for a fortnight, watching the Moon wane in her journey across the sky. Nine days before the end of April he disappeared and Anders was beside himself with worry until Mikkel gave in and went to search for him but came back empty-handed and not even Olaf’s assurances he would return on Thrimilci brought him any peace.

Walpurgis remembers the All Father’s sacrifice upon the World Tree, and Odin saw the runes, grasped the Staff of Yggdrasil and died for a heartbeat, plunging the world into darkness. And there was Loki, his Trickster self laughing at them as he summoned the Wild Hunt and they were afraid. A great figure draped in furs and crowned with antlers astride a wild horse coursing along with his retinue, the sounds of horns and hooves and hounds shaking the earth and driving all things before him. Anders ran blind in the darkness and the Huntsman pursued him, for Loki had offered him in exchange for something he wanted and Colin Gunderson wanted Anders Johnson dead.  

Anders saw the great horned figure rear up before him and knew there was nowhere left to go. His last thought was of John, of laughing eyes and _“I’m sorry.”_

He was slammed sideways and pinned to the ground, another’s body on top of him.

_“Fan síos nuair nach féidir leis a fheiceann tú!”_

_“John?”_

And he was gone.

  

 

> _If youʼre lost thereʼs a trail through the night  
>  Donʼt give up the ghost, donʼt give up the ﬁght. Donʼt let go _

 

 

They searched once the bale-fires were lit at midnight, signaling the return of light into the world. Ullr found him huddled in the roots of a great tree,  and there was blood on his face and hands and a great wound in his chest. Anders, knowing what he needed, bid his brothers to turn aside, pierced his own vein and fed him from it while Mikkel went to get Michele. Anders wrapped his arms gently around him and held him while Bragi whispered truths into his hair.

_“I love you. Don’t ever do that again. I was so afraid. Please don’t leave me. I am nothing without you.”_

And when Michele placed her hands on him and the Light of Asgard glowed within his chest John’s eyes rolled back and his body stiffened and shook, foam bubbling across his lips as his lover’s tears fell down upon his face.

The rising of the sun saw him in a derelict farmhouse in Whangamaungamoa, sleeping as if dead while a worried and fearful vessel counted every slow breath.

_“Please…”_

 

 

> _Oh a heart is a fragile thing  
>  Youʼve got to read the signs, got to know what they mean _

 

 

For nine days John Mitchell shook and sweated like a man gripped by deathly fevers. For nine nights Anders Johnson could see The Light pulsing feebly in his chest and palms, barely showing the life contained within. And for nine days and nights two oracles sat and listened as he mumbled words in the ancient language until finally they emerged from the room and announced _“Mani!”_

  

 

> _If youʼve gambled it all like thereʼs no tomorrow  
>  In the light of day youʼll be glad hope had her way. Donʼt give in _

 

 

An Irish vampire walked out out under the trees and a hundred lightbulbs strung from the branches flickered gently to life. He watched the vessel of the god of poetry pacing animatedly, cellphone in his hand. Anders turned and smiled at him, ending the call before walking into arms that had been waiting an eternity.

The vessel of a Norse god looked at his beautiful, dark-haired lover - now the Guardian of the Moon, and felt a happiness he’d never known. They would stay at the farm until John could learn to control his spark. Dawn could run the business, and for once he didn’t miss it. He walked forward into waiting arms and felt the odd warmth in his chest.

 

_“Don’t ever leave me again.”_

 

 

> Cause Iʼve seen you full of ﬁre  
>  Blazing a trail across the water  
>  If youʼre thinking you might be sinking  
>  I tell you I know it isnʼt so. Hold on to me

 

 

 

 

 

 

\---------------

John Mitchell’s Cocktail List:

  * Corpse Reviver # 1 (brandy, applejack, sweet vermouth)
  * Bee’s Knees (gin, lemon juice, honey simple syrup)
  * Medicinal Mint Julep (gin, mint simple syrup, mint leaves)
  * Widow’s Kiss (apple brandy, yellow chartreuse, benedictine, angostura bitters)
  * Martinez (old tom gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, angostura bitters)
  * Jack Rose (applejack, lime juice, grenadine)
  * Moonwalk (orange liqueur, rose water, grapefruit juice, champagne)
  * Death in the Afternoon (absinthe, champagne)
  * Bijou (London dry gin, sweet vermouth, green chartreuse, orange bitters)



[ https://www.homewetbar.com/blog/american-vintage-cocktails/ ](https://www.homewetbar.com/blog/american-vintage-cocktails/)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> “Fan síos nuair nach féidir leis a fheiceann tú!” - “Stay down where he can’t see you!” One tradition maintains that huntsman did not travel further up than an ox wears his yoke, so if Odin was hunting, it was safest to throw oneself onto the ground in order to avoid being hit. 
> 
> Mani is a god in Norse mythology. He was made when the sparks of the Realm of Fire were collected. The other gods were not pleased with Mani and his sister Sol. So the gods made them ride in carts. The purpose of the siblings being in the carts was to guide the moon and sun. The reason for the waxing and waning moons is because Mani took two kids so they would cover parts of the moon. The reason for lunar eclipses is Hati (the offspring of Fenrir who is to chase Mani) getting close to Mani. At Ragnarok, Hati will finally consume Mani.


End file.
